NEW11 part 1 – setting the scene

The first conference ever to be held under the techie-sounding banner NEW11 (or Natural European Wines 2011) was staged the week before last in Zurich. It looked deceptively like a miniature version of the annual Villa Favorita tasting, organised in Vicenza each year at exactly the same time as Vinitaly in Verona. Villa Favorita showcases the wines of producers who together form VinNatur, one of Italy's most important associations promoting organic and natural wines, founded by Angiolino Maule of the Gambellara-based Biancara estate. What set NEW11 apart from the annual Villa Favorita event is that it was pitched first and...